The Last Post

Well... after 12 years of meandering around the world of Shaun, this blog is officially decommissioned as of 5 January 2018. The new site is located at www.shaunwilsonresearch.net  I'll keep this site live as long as I can for archive purposes. A little history about how this site came to be... 

In 2006, my girlfriend was pregnant, we were living in a noisy apartment in McKinnon next to the station, and in a mad rush to get my life organised (sic) - has it ever been? - I needed to host online pictures, at the time a new concept, of eight video stills that I didn't really understand at the time but was to later evolve into the most significant art series of my career Uber Memoria and The 51 Paintings Suite. So with the help of my then RMIT students Krystal, Michele and George - and remembering I had just started teaching at RMIT the year before as a 33 year old artist with holes in his docs and stars in the eyes - I found a free website called Blogger.com which at the time was revolutionary and also an early social media site called Twitter which I joined not long after (I was among the first adopters of Twitter in the early months of its release but those days for me have long gone).

From there I uploaded a few posts to Blogger and slowly got the hang of using an online platform with its 2mb image upload limit and an ability to post text, pictures and hyper link text without coding - wow.

As the years rolled on so too did my output of works and soon, I was a home owner, a tax payer, a parent, a husband, and slowly but surely, a film director. Twelve years later, that girlfriend is my wife Tammy, that pregnancy is my nearly 11 year old daughter Izzy not to mention my nearly 9 year old daughter Sophia who have joined three rabbits and a resurrecting mouse (or versions of) called Treasure in my upside-down-and-round-the-bend world now living down the coast in a world I could never have imagined would or could exist. My Mum's still here and busy as ever. I still don't sleep very much. I need glasses and have started to doubt my once world famous double-denim fashion status of yesteryear. 

So it's time to move on. All of those things I dreamt about, tried to achieve but couldn't, wanted to try but didn't have the time, wanted to buy but didn't have the money, they're all here now. 2006-2018 were my establishing years after the shock of the PhD ended and the coming to terms with my father's death. This blog documented everything I did artistically and academically. Its probably not important to anyone else, after all, does anyone actually read my posts? I'd be surprised if that was a yes but the blog and its duration are important to me. The family, the films, the books, the university, the changes, the art, the new beginnings, its all here now. Time to transform my world again, off to my next adventure in life that I'm sure you'll hear about one day, like tears in rain...    

-SPWx

New Show: Artefacts from 21st Century Humans

My new 'curatorial public time experiment' opens at NOIR DARKROOM this week.

'Artefacts from 21st Century Humans'
NOIR DARKROOM,
09.11.17-12.11.17
curated my Shaun Wilson aka Mystery K

Phil Edwards
Sophia Honey-Wilson
Isabella Honey-Wilson
Tammy Honey
John MacKinnon
Mira Thurner
Darrin Verhagen & Richard Grant
Shaun Wilson

More from In The Garden of Death and Delight movie

More stills from the movie:

In The Garden of Death and Delight (movie)

 The Last Man in Vegas movie is well into post and I have a new movie called In The Garden of Death and Delight reflecting the uncertainty of our times: Brexit, the 2016 US election, Syria, climate change, nuclear war, fundamentalism, and economic downturns to name a few. Here's a sneak peak.

Timespeed and hello world

Hello world. I've been in the last throws of working on my feature film The Last Man in Vegas this past year which has been taking up most of my time and have a few new projects of note. The first is Timespeed (2016), filmed in 8K and screened in 4K dome format filmed at the National Gallery of Victoria, St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne Central, RMIT, and down the coast. This is the prototype for a larger work that might take a while to complete to eventually screen at the Planetarium.

The other three projects are the completion of the next 51 Painting movie called Indigo Rising which I'd like to release before the end of the year, some academic papers on cinematography and zombies (separate) which have taken two years to write, published in two new exciting film/digital/philosophy journals debuting at the end of next month and at the end of October, and finally a great new book (I'm the editor) on slow durational films, all very exciting.


Shaun Wilson (2016), Timespeed (prototype), video, audio, dur: (2:11 mins)

New Uber Memoria Series

New work from the freshly minted Uber Memoria XIX Parts V-X series in production now.

New film: The Last Man in Vegas

I've been very busy making my first narrative film 'The Last Man in Vegas'. Here's the new details for the Indiegogo crowd funding campaign, trailer, and website.

Uber Memoria XIX Part IV

New work: Mini DV series (2014)

Some new works from the Mini DV series - found Mini DV tapes with hand made miniatures. I'm aiming for about x20 in the series this year. Hope you like them.

Shaun Wilson (2014), 'Les and Barry couldn't decide which way to cut the mustard', plastic, synthetic polymer paint on found Mini DV tape, dimensions variable.

Shaun Wilson (2014), 'At his age, Graeme decided that crack could make him do anything', plastic, synthetic polymer paint on found Mini DV tape, dimensions variable.

Shaun Wilson (2014), 'Murray found that watching late night television made him cut holes in strange places', plastic, synthetic polymer paint on found Mini DV tape, dimensions variable.

Shaun Wilson (2014), 'Larry found viagra made him supplement his desire to dig holes', plastic, synthetic polymer paint on found Mini DV tape, dimensions variable.

Shaun Wilson (2014), 'In the end, Craig said fuck it, I'm going back to painting', plastic, synthetic polymer paint on found Mini DV tape, dimensions variable.

New Screenings

Some new screenings this year are:

 'House and Home', curated by Dr Malcom Bywaters, 11 April - 3 May, 2014 Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Melbourne.

'Make Believe its Nothing', curated by Brie Trenerry & Kieran Boland, 12 Feb - 9 March, 2014, MARS Gallery, Melbourne.

'Beacons Art and Music Festival',  7 August - 8 August 2014, Skipton, North Yorkshire, UK.

'XIII International Festival of the Image', 5 May - 9 May, 2014, Cultural and Convention Centre, Teatro, Fundadores, Columbia.

Uber Memoria XIX: Part II

Uber Memoria XIX: Part I

New work for 2014

From 'Uber Memoria XIX' (2014) screening in 'Make Believe its Nothing', curated by Brie Trenerry and Kieran Boland, MARS Gallery 12 Feb- 9 March, 2014.

The Tailor of Autumn Pre VFX

A work in progress look at my new film before it goes into VFX

Almost finished...

I've been filming for a year now so only 3 days of more filming to go this month then production is complete. Here's a pic...

51 Paintings completed.

At last...

51 Paintings Test Screening

Courtesy of Scott Knight

51 Paintings private test screening #1
Cinema 1, RMIT University, Melbourne
25.01.13

Test Screening #2 coming soon.

First screening for 2013

Uber Memoria XXI #01, HD video, colour, sound, 1:00 min

Shaun Wilson
Uber memoria XXI #01
'Now you see it... now you don't'
Curated by Gioula Papadopoulou & G Dimitrakopoulos
Feb 2, 2013
Miden Videoart Festival Screenings in Chios
Calliope Artspace, Chios, Greece

Pozible campaign next week.

The DVD distribution campaign for 51 Paintings starts next week on Pozible. I need all the help I can get with this one so check out the Facebook Page and twitter feeds for updates. You see everything on my blog as live updates and perhaps a lot of Tam's baby belly as well :)

Uber Memoria 1-30 Remaster Near Completion

Remastering the rest of Uber Memoria 1-30. Here's one of the last ones.

Vampire Novel is finished

I finished writing my vampire novel this week and its going to be a shocker, trust me when I say it makes 'Silence of the Lambs' look like an episode of 'In the Night Garden'. Available as paperback and ebook soon. Be warned...

New Short Film Coming

New short film 'Reversal' in 2D and 3D (they're actually separate versions of each other) now in post. p.s: I'm using Rotobrush and Optical Flares in stereo L and R mode (S3D), instant workflow headache but looks great. The flare below is 100% real sun.

New Screenings

Shaun Wilson, Uber Memoria XXI #03 (2012), HD video (2.40.1), colour, sound, 1:00 min, Composer: Andrew Rostas

Uber Memoria XXI #01, 03 and #05 
File Media Art, FILE 2012
Electronic Language International Festival
16.07.12 - 19.08.12
Ruth Cardoso Cultural Centre, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Uber Memoria XXI #01
Miden Video Art Festival
07.07.12
Amfeias Square, Miden, Greece

Uber Memoria XXI #01
VIII Media Art Monographic Show
9th International Imagen Festival
16-20.04.12
Manizales, Columbia

New Feature Film on its Way...

After 6 years, my first feature film '51 Paintings' is now in post - working on the sound and cleaning up the VFX. Release will be on DVD this year when I can raise the money for the burn, OFLC certificate, and the EAN. Here's a quick look...

Gothic Memoria Remastered (2008-12)

Have been remastering the Gothic Memoria 1-30 works and they now look great in HD. Am uploading as we speak so expect to see the new works very soon. Rolling out to YT and Vimeo progressively but will flick the live switch once they are all available as a set so you can see everything at once.

Uber Memoria Remastered (2007-12)

updating the blog very slowly, taking weeks to redo content. Should be a good archive in a few months, Here's some redone Uber, see more on my Vimeo/YT pages.

New Book: Culture and New Media

I'm in a new book titled 'Culture and New Media: 5 Questions by Lev Manovich' by Vito Campanelli and Danilo Capasso. It contains over 60 authors and is available in Italian only (not sure if an English version is at print yet). ISBN:978-88-95869-06-3. CC BY-NC-ND 2.5.

Uber Memoria XXI (2012)

New Uber Memoria XXI (2012), first of 100 works (x50 S3D, x50 2D) I'll post more as they are finished. This one is screening at the Director's Lounge, Berlin in two weeks and at the Academy Gallery, Launceston from Feb onwards.

More VFX Videos

Some more promo videos I made for Honeyhouse Films from their DVD Product Profile adverts. Check out the site at honeyhousefilms.com

Still Here...

I've been offline for a while in an intense production period working on my film. Its going to be a long way to go but am revolving on some interesting ideas. I've also been making a 3D short film on the side so when its done I'll post everything on Vimeo. Don't ask me how but I also managed to write a novel called "The Gothic Memorium' which is coming out very soon. There is a new website coming early next year but more on that later on.

The Aliens are Coming

Im making a short film about... aliens  in New York. A bit of fun. Here's a sneak peak.

Boom Boom! Phil Phil!

My first show in Melbourne for a while, 'Boom Boom' co-ocurated by a good friend of mine Phil Edwards. See the invite below. My old RMIT printmaking teacher Greg Moncrief, perhaps one of the most talented and funniest artists I've ever known, is showing so its pretty special seeing them all again.

     

Uber Memoria XX

The new Uber Memoria XX has begun, here are the first two (of x100 works in total). I filmed my friend Malcom late this afternoon, prepping the sound next week. These are the 2D versions - another parallel series is being filmed in 3D.

New Book

Tammy and I are in a new art book published in the US titled "Re-Imagine: New Contemporary Art" released in July 2011. Available through Amazon and good book stores/galleries.

100 new Optical Flares

I've made a total of 100 (series 1) new free lens flares for use in the Video Copilot Optical Flares program which are incrementally being uploaded onto their site over the next week. The next 100 (series 2) will be crafted especially for use in the new VFX stock videos I'm making for Tammy's business which you'll see a lot of in a few months. Am having so much fun with this I might just make 1000 and call myself Mr Michael Bay!

The Big Three

Here are the first examples of the study series for Uber memoria XX in 2D, anaglyphic 3D and Stereo 3D. These pick up from the Uber Memoria Proto series back in 2007 with a new body of work that I had originally sketched out and planned but never got around to filming. These were shot on the Fugi W3 and scaled to 2.35 in post. I'm setting up a gallery on Youtube to release all works together for free in all 3 formats. Now this forces me to go out and buy a pair of red/cyan shades!

Left channel view 2D version

Left and Right Channel Anaglyphic format view (Red/Cyan)

Left and Right Channel 3D Stereo format view

Here No Evil

Detail from 'Hear No Evil' (2011) test versions

VFX Background Plates

I'm making background plates for a VFX 3D stereo project (the projected screens are 4:3). This shot is comprised of a foreground scene, sky replacement, Photoshoped trees, added DOF masks and some colour grading. I shot the time lapsed clouds on a 550D over my back fence. Have learnt a lot about the VFX process in a stereo space but the hard thing is woking in 8 channels (360 degree view). More images to come, its just taking a long time to complete...

Studies for Uber memoria XV

I did a 3D shoot at RMIT yesterday using the new Panasonic 3DA1s. A lot of trial and error but here's a sneak peak at a study for the next Uber series. Thanks to Paul (featured), Andrew (DOP) and Stefan (Vroom guy).

New Lens Flares

I've been making lens flares as extensions for Video Copilot's Optical Flares. Just starting out but hope make a suite of 100 useful flares for all sorts of effects and genres. Go to my page here

A Far Cry From Nowhere Screens in Berlin

A Far Cry from Nowhere
Parts 1-5
7th Berlin International Director's Lounge
Art House Meinblau, Pfefferberg, Germany
13.02.2011
Weblink

All 5 parts of the extended 'A Far Cry from Nowhere' (flat version) will screen at the 7th Berlin International Directors Lounge on Feb 13th around midnight (approx). Be prepared to be bored shitless....

Uber Memoria XIII

Still from the forthcoming installation Uber Memoria XII... should be ready by the end of the month.

The year that was 2010

Well there's a lot of new things coming next year for this funny little blog of mine - a new archive website, new advanced features and blog design, some great film projects and loads of new images. Looking back on it, 2010 was the most productive year I've had to date with over x4 major video installations, x85 single channel works, Arts Victoria money money money, a short film, 8 new short screenplays, one new feature-length screenplay, the first 15 minutes of Darklands, a few journal articles, and 3D versions of all of my major works since 2007. So thanks for dropping by and looking at my stuff. We had over 4000 page views this month alone - don't you people have anything better to do? :) so keep on coming back in 2011, the fun stuff is about to begin...  To kick off 2011, I've got a few curated screenings in Berlin then its off to the USA for an exhibition, then a pretty big 3D shoot in February to be filmed at RMIT.

All the best for the New Year, love to everyone - Shaun.

Uber memoria XI Redux

These two pictures show the final output of Uber memoria XI now in 2.40 format (the single channel version) with the complimentary 3D version above. Now I have to go buy some 3D glasses to see what all this stuff looks like. Im calling this Uber memoria XI Redux because Latin seemed to work for Coppola.

Uber memoria 3D

I was playing with After Effects today and converted some Uber memoria 1-30 works to 3D. Had a thought, why not go back and have a go at converting the Uber series and installations to 3D as companion pieces? So here are some quick examples... Im presuming if you wear 3D glasses whilst looking online that the effect will work (don't have any myself). p.s the new Uber installation thats almost finished (funded by Arts Victoria) will be in 3D. I see you.

New Work

Have been busy with a lot of production the past 6 weeks. Last Man on Earth is coming along, the next Uber installation is about to wrap and the Darklands trailers are being handed over for delivery tomorrow. Here's a sneak peak at some new Darkland's footage - shot the first 15 mins of the film using two DSLRs and a greenscreen as a dry run for the real thing. Hope you like them.